From “power over” to “power with”: resilience of the tomato value chain in the Upper East Region of Ghana

Food systems are increasingly subject to shocks (e.g., climate change, pandemics, financial or political crises), threatening food supply both locally and globally. Transforming food systems is urgent to achieve socially just food for all within planetary boundaries. Here, we integrate the analysis of power relations into the concept of resilience by studying the tomato value chain in northern Ghana, which is characterized by both climate shocks and unequal power relations. We address two questions drawing on critical resilience studies: (1) What are the characteristics of power relations between actors in the tomato value chain? (2) How do extreme weather events (shocks) influence power asymmetries between actors in the tomato value chain? Based on our findings, we argue that resilience studies should increasingly integrate a power lens, understanding resilience as a collective goal of food system actors. Our results shed light on the inherent link between power relations and resilience, especially through positive power such as “power with” used to mitigate the effects of a crisis. We observed asymmetric power dynamics in the Ghanaian tomato value chain, with widespread dependencies on credit and loans for farmers, who are then compelled to sell their produce at low prices. Our findings add nuance to the common discourse of female traders being the only power holders in the system.